Staffing

Requisites

Pre-requisite: (EDG2000 and (EDG2001 or EDS2401)) or (EDC3100 and EDE4103) or (EDC3100 and EDP3333 and EDP4130) or (EDC3100 and EDS4401) or (EDC3100 and EDV4440) or Co-requisite: EDG3000

Other requisites

Students must be available for a prescribed period of time to undertake a placement in a school or other approved site as required in this course. All professional placements are subject to the approval of the Faculty of Education. State law in Queensland (Australia) requires that all adults working/undertaking professional experience/researching with children under the age of 18, in the state of Queensland are required to possess a current suitability card (Blue Card). (See "Other Requirements" for further information.) Also see: http://www.usq.edu.au/education/professional-experience/blue-card

Rationale

Beginning teachers report that there are significant differences between their experiences as pre-service teachers and those they encounter in the first year of teaching. The professional placement provides a bridge between the more closely supervised professional experience placements and the first year of the education career. Each student is fully immersed in the role of the educator at the host site. Such immersion has the potential to provide the student with an authentic and accelerated understanding of the responsibilities, skills, attitudes and knowledge required of an emerging professional educator. This course provides opportunities for students to reflect on and synthesise their learning in relation to their professional identities as contemporary educators, as these are framed by professional standards frameworks.

Synopsis

Students will seek the authorisation of a host site to undertake 20 day professional placement. In Queensland schools this will also require an internship authorisation from the Queensland College of Teachers: equivalent processes may be required in other jurisdictions. Students are also able to elect to undertake the placement in a non-school setting (such as a community-based education context or in industry) subject to the approval of the Faculty of Education. In all settings appropriate arrangements for mentoring and supervision will be required as part of the process of approval of proposed placements. In schools or other settings students will each undertake lead responsibility for teaching or other work activities equivalent to 50% of the normal load of a fulltime educator at the site. Students will contribute in a secondary role to the remaining 50% of a fulltime load with the range of duties involving the full repertoires of practice in which educators engage in schools or professional community. Students will draw on the prior learning and experiences that inform their personalised frameworks of practice that delineate the roles and responsibilities of contemporary educators as global citizens. They will be able to make connections between theory and practice and the professional standards for educators (such as the Queensland College of Teachers' Professional Standards for Teachers) and will document these connections through a personalised e-portfolio.

Objectives

The course objectives define the student learning outcomes for a course. The assessment item(s) that may be used to assess student achievement of an objective are shown in parenthesis. On completion of this course students will be able to:

take full responsibility for the day to day management of teaching and learning of assigned classes - or the equivalent tasks/role in other approved contexts (Professional Placement)

demonstrate a capacity to draw on resources and understandings collated over duration of the program in the development of the personalised portfolio (Portfolio)

demonstrate competence in and appropriate use of language and literacy, including spelling, grammar, punctuation and bibliographic referencing. (Portfolio and Seminar Project)

Topics

Description

Weighting(%)

1.

The future of teaching: education and social change

20.00

2.

Professional, ethical and legal issues for teachers

20.00

3.

Personalised frameworks for educators' practice

10.00

4.

Synthesising learning, teaching, managing and collaboration in a holistic commitment to contemporary teachers' work

20.00

5.

Applying theory to practice and drawing theory from practice

10.00

6.

Preparation of the Portfolio

20.00

Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed

ALL textbooks and materials available to be purchased can be sourced from USQ's Online Bookshop (unless otherwise stated). (https://bookshop.usq.edu.au/bookweb/subject.cgi?year=2013&sem=01&subject1=EDC4000)

Assessment details

Due date for coversheet only. Seminar presentation dates and times will be advertised on StudyDesk and be conducted following internship.

A mark of one (1) indicates you have passed the Professional Experience component. A mark of zero (0) indicates you have not passed the Professional Experience component. Professional Placement should be conducted as per the Professional Experience Calendar unless approval has been granted by the Course Examiner.

Important assessment information

Attendance requirements:
It is the students' responsibility to attend and participate appropriately in all activities scheduled for them including discussion fora, and to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.

Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks.

Penalties for late submission of required work:
If students submit assignments after the due date without (prior) approval of the examiner then a penalty of 5% of the total marks gained by the student for the assignment may apply for each working day late up to ten working days at which time a mark of zero may be recorded.

Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course and must satisfactorily complete the sector-based professional experience.

Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the aggregate of the weighted marks obtained for each of the summative assessment items in the course.

Examination information:
There is no examination in this course

Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
As there are no examinations in this course, there will be no deferred or supplementary examinations.

University Student Policies:
Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions which might contravene University policies and practices. These policies can be found at http://policy.usq.edu.au.

Assessment notes

APA style is the referencing system required in this course. Students should use APA style in their assignments to format details of the information sources they have cited in their work. The APA style to be used is defined by the USQ Library's referencing guide. http://www.usq.edu.au/library/referencing

Other requirements

Students will require access to e-mail and have Internet access to UConnect for this course

IMPORTANT NOTE: Working with Children: State law in Queensland requires that all adults (including university students, pre-service educators, trainers, vocational teachers, industry educators) working with children under the age of 18, in the State of Queensland*, obtain approval before commencing such work. Many education courses include a practical component (professional experience, project work, research, assessment etc.) that may require engagement with children under the age of 18. It is your responsibility to ensure that you possess a current suitability card (Blue Card) before commencing any practical components of this course. DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN ANY PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE WITH CHILDREN UNDER 18 UNLESS YOU POSSESS A CURRENT 'BLUE CARD'. For further information: http://www.usq.edu.au/education/professional-experience/blue-card
*If you are undertaking practical experience outside the State of Queensland, Australia you
should check local requirements.